Concluding concert of Night Serenades held at Tbilisi State Conservatoire Grand Hall.
By Khatia Bzhalava
Friday, November 26
On November 21, within the framework of the Batumi-Tbilisi International Festival Night Serenades, the concluding concert of the festival was held at Tbilisi State Conservatoire Grand Hall. The participants of the concert were the festival’s basic orchestra Georgian Virtuosana, Maestro Vakhtang Matchavariani, and soloists- Sabine Grofmeier and Sandro Nebieridze. The event was attended by the representatives of state institutions, the diplomatic corps, and music lovers.
According to the artistic director of the festival Giorgi Issakadze, this year’s festival hosted two of the greatest instrumentalist musicians of modern times – Italian bandoneon artist Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi and German clarinetist Sabine Grofmeier. Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi, together with the Principal Conductor of the Georgia National Symphony Orchestra Nikoloz Rachveliand Georgian musician Sopho Khalvashi, fascinated the public at the opening concert in Batumi.
Issakadze pointed out that for the last few years the festival has been paying special attention to the works of classical music created by Georgian composers. He also stressed that the educational program held within the framework of the festival lasted for two months this year. The sectoral masterclasses and workshops delivered to students were led by renowned musicians, including Sabine Grofmeier, Vakhtang Matchavariani, Mario Stefano Pietrodarchi, and Giorgi Shaverzashvili.
According to Nina Tsagareli, the Director of the Festival Night’s Serenades, the opening concert of the 13th International Festival was held in Batumi and after two months of conducting various field masterclasses, the concluding concert of the festival was held at Tbilisi State Conservatoire Grand Hall. Tsagareli thanked the partners, supporters, all the listeners, and the team of the festival.
“I am very glad that despite the pandemic, music lovers were given the opportunity to share the celebration of art” she noted.
Traditionally, the festival had several premieres, including the composition of Maestro Vakhtang Matchavariani dedicated to Ludwig van Beethoven, Nikoloz Rachveli’s 'Piece to Italian People' and Sandro Nebieridze’s fantasia on the themes of Paliashvili's opera.
Renowned clarinetist Sabine Grofmeier performed the masterpieces of Mozart at the final concert in Tbilisi. She stressed that the festival associated with the name of Liana Issakadze is very important and thanked the team of the Night Serenades for the invitation. Grofmeier also expressed her admiration for the basic festival orchestra “Georgian Virtuosana”.
“I would especially like to thank the outstanding Georgian listeners,” the German clarinetist noted.
Young pianist and composer Sandro Nebieridze also took part in the concluding concert and performed a fantasia, created especially at the request of Giorgi Isakadze on the themes of Paliashvili's opera. According to Nebieridze, he has been working with the festival for four years and every year the Night Serenades become more and more important. “This year the festival was fantastic, it was special,” he noted.
The international festival Night Serenades was founded in 1982 in Georgia’s north-western region of Abkhazia by renowned Georgian violinist and conductor Liana Issakadze. The festival was taking place annually in Bichvinta and was visited by renowned musicians from the Soviet Union as well as from abroad, including Alfred Schnittke, Kurt Masur, Gidon Kremer, and others.
In 1991, following the armed conflict, the festival stopped existing, however, 18 years later, in 2009, Night Serenades was brought back to the Georgian seaside town of Batumi, continuing the traditions of Bichvinta’s Festival. Due to the wide popularity of the festival throughout the years, Tbilisi City Council decided in 2015 to change its name to Batumi-Tbilisi International Festival.
The basic team of the Festival is the chamber orchestra “Virtuosi”, founded by Liana Issakadze in 2011. The orchestra is staffed with talented young Georgian musicians working abroad and in Georgia.
The artistic director of the festival is Giorgi Issakadze, the director of the festival is Nina Tsagareli, and the chief conductor is Maestro Vakhtang Matchavariani.
The event is organized by the company ‘Art Alliance.’
The festival Night Serenades is supported by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Youth of Georgia, Tbilisi and Batumi city halls, Ministry of Culture, Education and Sports of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, and embassies of Italy and Germany. The official insurer of the festival is the company ‘Ardi.’
